Plow.



10A. WEAVER.

PLDW. l

APPLIGATION FILED JAN.2.1912.

Patented sept. 10,` 1912.

J en d, f'

I. A. WEAVER.

PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.2.1912'.

Patented Sept. 10,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

y UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

y IEA A. WEAVER, or SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoE To RACINE-SMILEY CorrrANr, or SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, `A coEroEATIoN or ILLINOIS.

PLOW.

v Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented certainneW and useful Improvements in Plows, of

' which the followingis av specification.

-My invention relates to plows and has Y particular reference to that type of plow tion engines.

operated vin gangs and propelled by trac- In the developmentlin the art `of plowing Iitis becoming common to employ from four *totwelve plows in a gang, hauling these plowsby a traction engine. In this way much more is accomplished than'would bev possible by the old method. However, there areA many objections to the use of gangs `f-.mounted on a rigid frame, for thereason that in case one plowl strikes an obstruction such as an embe ded stone, the plow beam being rigidly mounted, somethingl must break and the part tobreak is usually the plow oint or plow beam. This, o f course, necessitates the stoppage of the entlre gang and Causes considerable delay and loss while new parts are being secured and attached. In order to obviate these difficulties I have f provided a` novel mechanism by means of which solid obstructions, such as embedded' rocks, are passed over or the plow is permitted to swing to escape the same. The means by. which such a result is accomplished must of necessity be automatic in actioniinasmuch as the obstructions are usually hidden and their presence not known until the damage is done.

Therefore one of the principal objects of l.In invent-ion is the provision of novel means w ereby each of a plurality of independently mounted plows has automatic means associated therewith whereby solid obstructions are avoided, and furthermore, the plow atonce returned into the ground at the proper depth, all without requiring attention or action on the part of the operator.

Other objects' and advantages of my invention will be more fully explained herein- `after and pointed out in the claims.

My invention will be more' readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,` wherein,

Figure 1 is a side elevation cfa vgang `plow arrangedin accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the construc- Speccation of Letters Patent. Application led January 2, 19.12. Serial No. 668,923.

Patented Sept. 10. 1912.

tion shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 illustrates ,a portion of the construction shown in Fig.'1, and shows the position assumed by the plow after contacting a solid obstruction', and Fig.' 4 illustrates in plan the position assumed by one of the plows when contacting a solid obstruction, the parts being arranged so that the plow may deflect sidewise.

Referring more particularly tothe drawvide connecting means whereby the gang.

Pro-

is hauled by suitable tractive power. jecting at an angle from the diagonal member 11 is a beam 17, to which the plow beam 18 is connected. This member 17 also provides a support for a further land wheel 19.

ings, it will be seen that I provide a frame'65 By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the connection of the plow beam 18 to lthevframe is by springs, both in a direction par llel to the line of pull and also in a direction at right angles to the line of pull.

This is accomplished in the first instancev by means of a plate 20, having a bolt aperture therethrough, this plate being rigidly secured to the plow beam 18. To the lower edge of the plate 20 is secured a rigid link 21, the link being bent in order to pass beneath the diagonal member 11. The connection to the plate 20 is by means of a strap 20l1 and a pin 21a. The connection is loose in order to permit the requisite transverse movement of the plow.' The forward end of this link is connected to one point of a triangul ar lever 22,` pivoted at 23 to a bracket 24, rigidly secured to the diagonal member 11.

As a further brace and support for the w 'they plate 20 is passed a bolt 27, the bolt being adapted to copcrate with a slot 28 in the member 17. The bolt 27 is of considerable lengthand carries a powerful compression` s Iin Y 29 the com ression bein ad'usted 110 P e v P g l by means of a washer and nut sea-ted on the outer end of the bolt.

It will be seen that by the construction just described the plow beam will be per- 5 mitted bodily movement under extreme stress, either in a rearward direction or sidewlse 1n either d1rect1on;also that after the obstruction is passed the springs will restore the beam toits normal position;that

by reason of the construction of the plate v and the member 17, the eii'ect4 of the spring is augmented because of the fricrovided between the contacting plates. ot only this, but the edect of 15 the spring 29 is augmentedby the leverage necessary to cause the deiiectionof the spring as is best shown in Fig. 4.

I I have heretofore described a spring mounting of my novel plow withoutl rela- 21, tion to the means wherebythe spring mounting is utilized to best advantage. It

will be understood also that while I have described the construction in connection with only one plow, such constructlon 1s 25 applied to each of the plows in a gang. A

description of the means whereby the spring mounting is utilized will. follow'.

A bracket 30 is rigidly bolted to the plow beam 18, and contains a socket within which "3o is mounted the journal of a wheel carrying member 31, to the lower end of which member is pivoted a wheel-32. Also` secured to the member 31 is a lever 33, the connection being formed by means of an aperture 35 through the .lever and a loop or staple 34,

which passes around the member 31. To the freeend of the lever 33 is connected a link 35, which link has secured thereto a strap36, by means of which ayoke is' 4o formed, there being a plurality of perforations 37 through the yoke in order to provide an adjustable connection between the parts. The link 35 is bent back upon itself in order to provide a segmental rack 38.

The link is pi'votedat 39 to an operating lever* 40, the operating lever being pivoted at 41 to a me'mbcr 42, pro- ]ecting upwardly from the frame. The operating lever is provided with the usual ratchet mechanism by meansv of which the parts may be held in adjusted position. Also provided inthe bracket 30 is a socket within which is mounteda standard 43 carrying 'at its lower end a colter 44 of well known construction. I also provi e a some manner escape the obstruction. `Thirs with the frame while the lever 33, carrying the wheel 32, being arrested with the plow beam, is caused to turn and the wheel 32 to be advanced with and at a faster rate of speed than the plow frame. The wheel 32 being pivoted .onthe arm 31, which normally extends rearwardly at an angle to the horizontal, is caused tov assume a more vertical position and, in assumin such vertical position, the plow beam is o? necessity elevated or swung on its pivotin bolt 27. The forward end of the beam eing held against vertical movement, thev rearl end which supports the plow is raised clearof the ground and assoon as free from the retarding influence is sprung forward'under the action of thespring 25 and atl once enters the ground to its -normal depth. Assuming, however, that the plow strikes an obstruction on its side, that is, that the point does not directly contact the obstruction, it will be seen by reference to Fig.`4 that the plow beam and all of its associated parts are permitted sidewise deflection as well as rearward movement, due to the spring 29 and the normally contacting plates 20 and 17. It may Yoccur, as illus- -trated in Fig. 4, that the plow will simultaneously rise andbe deflected sidewise, in this way securing the benefit of both motions. y All the actions heretofore described'are entirely automatic and require no attention. whatever on the part ofthe operator. Of. course, if a plow is to be elevated for any` reason the operator act'uates the lever `40, thus causing an action somewhat similar to that which takes place on the contact of a plow with an obstruction. It is obvious also that the depth to which the plow enters the ground is regulated by the same lever and that after such regulation the action is entirely automatic.

The mechanisms herein described areonly typical of many othersvwhich might be devised for securing the same results and I do not therefore wish to be limited to the exact 'construct-ion herein shown and dey scribed.l

I claim: 1

1. In a device of the vcharacter described, the combination of a l`frame, a plow beam,

a plow carried by said beam, and a sprlng C connection between sald beam and frame,

whereby longitudinal and transverse movement of the plowmelative to said frame 1s permitted, substantially as described.

2. A device .of the character described comprising, in combination, a frame, a p`low beam, a plow on said beam, a spring connection between said frame and said beam vwhereby limited relative longitudinalv and mcnt between said beam and frame is perinitted and a second spring connection be tween said beam and said frame, adapted to act at substantially a. right angle to said first mentioned spring, whereby transverse movement of said plow beam is permitted, substantially as 'des ribed. I

A device oftie character described comprising, in combination, a frame, a plow beam, a plow'secured to said beam, a connection between said lbeam and said frame, whereby limited mela-tive movement between saidbeam and frame is permitted, said con-v neet-ion including a spring, and a second -spring associated with said conneption mea-ns, said second spring being arranged to permit sidewise movement ci'. said plow and beam, substantially as described.

5. A device of the class described comprising,'in combination, a frame,- a plow beam, a plow carried by said beam, a spring connection between saidy beam and said frame, whereby relative longitudinal `movement between said beam and frame is permitted, a second spring connection between said beam-and said/'iframe and located to the rear of said rst mentioned spring, whereby transverse movement of said plow beam is permitted, and means coperating with the spring connection between said frame and beam and adapted to` automatically cause the elevation of said plow and beam when said plow contacts an obstruction, substantially as described.

6. A device of the character described comprising, 1n combination, a frame, a plow beam, a plow secured to said beam,ea connection between said beam and said frame,

whereby limited relative movement betweenl said beam and frame is permitted, said connect1on`including a spring, a second spring associated with said connecting means, said second spring being arranged to permit sidewisev movement'o said plow and beam, and means coperating with the spring connection between said frame and beam and 'adapted to cause the elevation oi'.- said plow and beam whenfsaid plow contacts an obstruction, substantially as described.

7. A device ofthe class described Vcomprising, in combination, a frame, n plow beam, a plow associated witli'saidbeam, aA

connection between said plow beam and said frame, whereby universal movement-,is permitted, springs normally maintaining said plow beam in proper operative relation to `said frame, and a shiftable wheel mounted on said beam and having a connection to said frame whereby saidwheel 1s shifted vand said beam elevated upon the relative separation of said beam and frame, substantially v as described.

IRA A. WEAVER. lVitnesses:

FRANK H. OFFER,

JOHN F. MCLEBMAN. 

